Wells looks to keep audience on edge with 'Bloody Jack'

Mrs. Hiller (played by Lisa Marie Hernandez), center, intervenes in an argument between Margaret (MacKenzie Mealem), left, and knife-wielding Morgan (Marcus Kreger) in the CATS Playhouse production of "Bloody Jack."

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American playwright Tim Kelly, considered one of the theater's more prolific writers before his death in 1998, once said, "I considered a good play one that didn't bore me and a bad play one that did."

Ric Wells, 52 and director of the current CATS Playhouse production, first read Kelly's 1981 drama "Bloody Jack" while attending Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.

What appealed to Wells most, he said, is that "you don't know who Jack is until the last page of the play."

Actually, that's not entirely true. The audience does know that the title refers to the notorious murderer known as Jack the Ripper.

That was the nickname given a killer when, during three months in 1888, seven women were murdered in a London slum, their bodies mutilated. The criminal was neither apprehended nor identified - but Kelly's play offers theories.

CURTAIN UP "Bloody Jack," a drama by Tim J. Kelly based on the Jack the Ripper murders.

 Tickets: General admission tickets $7 for adults and $4 for children age 12 and younger, students and senior citizens.

 Information: 792-0501.

It takes place in the home of a character named Dr. Sargeant, said Wells, and during the course of the story each person who comes to visit him is considered a suspect.

Wells said, "It's not just a whodunnit; it's a why-did-he-do-it. To get the audience more involved, we ask them at intermission to predict the identity of the killer. The winner receives a season pass."

Partly because Kelly penned so many plays for young people, Wells opted to cast teenagers in each role.

"There's no bad language and we never see a murder committed on stage," he said. "I also think this play is a good learning tool for kids, one that really makes them work at their craft.

"It also gives me an opportunity to teach them some advanced acting techniques."

Transforming the play into a learning experience, he also has asked cast members to arrive at each rehearsal with a new fact they've been able to learn about Victorian England.

Wells hopes to recreate the Victorian period with his set, costumes and British accents.